Winds of Change
by spiderwriters
Summary: Linebeck wakes up and finds himself back before he and his old crew boarded the Ghost Ship. How will Linebeck being in Link's life affect the events of Wind Waker? Sequel to WWLWBF.
1. Back Home

**Hello everyone. Thank you to everyone who read WWLWBF. I look forward to writing a whole new story for you to enjoy.**

Linebeck rubbed at his head as he sat up. His clothes had completely dried out, in fact, he wasn't in the same clothes he was wearing earlier, but the clothes he wore when he first boarded the Ghost Ship. Linebeck looked around and saw that he was on the Ghost Ship with the crew of his shipping crew. Some of them were still out cold, others were still coming too.

It was strange seeing his old friends, especially in their non cursed forms. Wait, where was Link, Jolene, or Link's friend Tetra? Was there another split in the timeline? Did that mean they were the eight or so years in the past? This was so confusing. But right now though, that didn't matter. They just needed to get off the ship. It was nothing but trouble.

Just as he stood up he was slammed back down into the deck of the ship. A blond had him pinned down, brown eyes piercing holes into him. Linebeck's eyes locked onto the man above him. He would have groaned if the wind hadn't been knocked out of him first.

"You don't known how long I've been waiting to do this." The man said through gritted teeth.

Their faces were inches apart. The man's knuckles were white as they gripped Linebeck's blue shirt tightly. He let go with his right hand and reeled it back. Linebeck closed his eyes and braced himself for a punch. Before the blow could land on his face, the man was suddenly pulled off by a brunet.

"Calm down James." The brunette said as he struggled with the angry man.

James was thrashing around like a cat trying to avoid a bath. Linebeck took this opportunity to scramble to his feet. By now nearly everyone was out of their stupor. There were a lot of perturbed faces, confused, and groggy ones among the crowd.

"Back off Kerk. Linebeck has had this coming for eight years." James growled as he fought Kerk's grasp.

"What are you talking about James? Is it because you are the one who got yourself caught? I told you to play it safe and subtle." Linebeck threw his hands into the air, "But no! We go out fighting or not at all. But you know what?" The sailor asked, nearing the angered man, "I got away. I was then able to help day destroy the evil entity that possessed the ship so we could get back home. I'm sorry it took so long, but I did it. Now let's get off this ship and go home, _Captain."_

James stopped struggling and jerked his way out of Kirk's hold.

"Fine." He replied through gritted teeth, but the fire began to die in his eyes, "Let's just go home."

The captain of the supply ship helped another groggy sailor back aboard their ship. James glared at him, piercing blue eyes stabbing holes at Linebeck. Kirk looked between James and Linebeck and let out a long breath and he ran his hands through his brown locks. He walked over to Linebeck, shaking his head slightly and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't sweat it. Besides," Kirk rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "being trapped on that ship as a spirit like thing wasn't _that bad."_

Linebeck frowned and shot the other man a look, "Hey. I did it. I know it took me a while, longer than I would have _liked_ , but hey," he flashed a sheepish smile.

Kirk threw his arm around Linebeck and corralled him towards the cargo ship, "Nawh, it's not a big deal. Everyone and everything is back to normal."

They leaped aboard the old ship and made their way below deck. A lot of fun memories were made on this ship. It was still strange to think that technically, they hadn't happened all that long ago.

Linebeck rubbed the back of his neck, "Kirk, about earlier, I just wanna say... thanks."

The brunet let out a laugh, "No problem, that's it's part of the job description. Besides, you know James had been wanting to clean your clock since -"

"Yeah, you and I both no why." Linebeck interrupted as his face changed into a bright shade of red.

Kirk rolled his eyes and rustled Linebeck's hair, "You know I always have to give you a hard time for that." He thrust a broom into his Linebeck's hands, "Come on, we got some cleaning to do."

* * *

Things slowly settled back to normal. Or at least as close to normal after about an eight year long gap where lots of things had passed. It was strange to go back to being below someone on a ship. For the past five years he had had his own ship. There wasn't a whole lit of catching up to do, it was just Linebeck filling everyone in in what happened the last eight years. But seeing as they were back when the Ghost Ship took them, they hadn't really happened yet, at least in this timeline. They also decided that once everyone got settled back in again they would hold a town meeting and explain what had happened. Linebeck wasn't looking forward to that, but he supposed it had to be done.

After two days of sailing a familiar island could be seen in the distance. Outset Island was definitely a sight for sore eyes. A strange feeling ran over everyone as they left the ship. For the past eight years they never thought that they would see their home again. But here they were.

Linebeck's heart began pounding, and butterflies made his stomach dance and churn as he made his way towards his house. He nearly cried when he saw Link sitting outside with his Grandma. He was playing with his little toys. The four year old looked up from his toys and a huge toothy grin instantly flashed on his face. Link stood up and ran to him, as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. His arms were outstretched.

"Daddy! You're home!" He cried out between giggles.

Linebeck stooped down and held his son. Goddesses, Link was so tiny. Tears were welling up in his eyes. He had missed out on so much, but now he could be there. The young child looked up and saw his tears fighting their way out.

"What's wrong Daddy? Are you sad?" The curious child asked.

Linebeck smiled back warmly and wiped his eyes, "No. I'm just really happy Link."

This satisfied the four year old, "Good. Do you wanna play sand cattles?"

The sailor raised an eyebrow, "Sand cattles? How do you play?"

Link giggled, "No Daddy. Sand cattles. You make catttles in the sand and smoosh them."

His grandmother laughed, "He means sand castles. But he's been having a hard time pronouncing it."

"That's what I said. Sand cattles. I pononceded it right." Defended Link as the four year old crossed his arms.

Linebeck smiled and rustled the boy's hair, "Sure. I'll make sand castles with you. Just let me talk with your grandmother real quick."

Linebeck turned towards the older woman, "Thank you for watching the kids Julia."

The old woman grinned, "It was nothing. How was your trip?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, things didn't go well, but then they did. It's a _really_ long story. And we're going to have a town meeting tonight and explain everything."

Julia shook her head, "Well, as long as you all made it back, that's all that matters. Now go spend time with Link; he's really missed you."

Linebeck looked out at his son who was messing with the sand, and couldn't help but smile, "I've missed him too."


	2. Town Meeting

**Thank you to savannahamminga for reviewing, favoriting, savannahamminga, Alanis Strife, Moonlight Raven Grave, Sandwichcats, kitsunefireball for favoriting, AMaeJay, LeafeonPrincess, LeafeonPrincess, Sandwichcats, kitsunefireball, and neveranyonehere for following.**

 **The village and the houses are going to be a little different, like the house is going to be set up differently and the town is going to be a bit bigger.**

Linebeck crossed his arms and leaned back on the back wall of the town hall. A small babble of conversation hung in the air as everyone filled in. He really didn't want to go through this, but he had been overruled by the crew and the captain of the supply ship. As the last few people showed up, Linebeck took a seat towards the front of the room by his Kirk.

"Alright, if everyone would settle down, we can begin," Sturgon said as he hit his staff against the ground. "Linebeck, if you would like to take my place at the podium, you can."

It took every last effort not to groan or roll his eyes, "Not really. It's a _long_ story. We're going to be here for a while and I really don't want to stand for a majority of it."

Sturgon shrugged and made his way towards and took an empty seat. All eyes made their way towards him. It felt like the room had shot up in temperature, but Linebeck knew it was nerves. Kirk gave him a reassuring nudge with his elbow.

"Well, ehehm.." Linebeck said as tried to clear his throat, "so as most of you know we made our usual supply run to Windfall Island. On our way back we encountered the fabled Ghost Ship. This is where the story is going to get complicated. So when the Ghost Ship boarded us, we were given a choice, join its crew or die. We really didn't have much of a choice. So we joined its crew."

Looks of confusion flashed across the crowd and Linebeck pressed on with the story, "I know, I know, just hear this whole thing out. For about a year we served the crew. Every chance we got we tried to find a way home. What we didn't know is that the Ghost Ship traveled traveled between multiple worlds. Again, hear me out. This is a long and crazy story. Over the course of that year, we never came across another ship that came from our world, this world. After a year had passed we noticed something was wrong with the ship. It was cursed and was slowly draining the life from us. We tried to escape, but there were... _complications_.

It turns out the ship was a cover for an evil entity named Bellum. The monsters who served Bellum ran the ship and left everyone weak to the point that escape was futile for most of us. I was the only one who managed to get off the Ghost Ship, while everyone else was trapped on the ship. After I escaped I searched for years trying to find out all that I could about the Ghost Ship.

While all this was going on, in our world, we never came back. Our supply ship was reported as missing and was assumed to have sunk in a storm. Years passed with out event. Then Gannon returned and started gaining his power back."

"Wait. Gannon is going to return?" asked Sturgon.

"Unfortunately, I think he will. So Gannon's power grew. He began searching for the Triforce of Power. He used this giant bird thing, I forget what Link called it, the Hemlock King, King of Hemlocks, something like that."

"Sorry to interrupt you, but did you say Link? As in your son, your four year old?" asked Abe.

Linebeck let out a short breath, "Yes. Just let me explain." He pinched the bridge of his nose and continued, "So the Hemlock Bird King thing was sent by Gannon to find the recent incarnation of Zelda. I'm going to skip ahead to Links twelfth birthday. On that day the Helmock King was being chased by a pirate ship. The Bird King had captured their captain, a girl around Link's age. Her name is Tetra. The ship was firing something at the bird and knocked Tetra from its grasp. She fell into the forest and Link had to go rescue her. After she was rescued the Bird King mistook Aryll for Tetra. So Link and Tetra go off and search for Aryll.

So as it turns out Link is the reincarnation of all the previous Links and holds the Ttriforce of courage. Tetra is the reincarnation of the Princess Zelda and possess the Triforce of wisdom. A long adventure ensues and Link and Zelda Tetra defeat Gannon, hopefully once and for all."

Linebeck rubbed his face as he tried to remember what Link had told him, "The Triforce comes together and Zelda's father wishes for them to fulfill their destiny and find a new land to recreate Hyrule, or something like that. I don't remember exactly, but moving on. They save Aryll and go out looking for a new place to call Hyrule. During their trip they encounter the Ghost Ship.

Tetra gets trapped on the Ghost Ship and Link gets knocked off the ship and wakes up on Mercay Island. It's a key island in the realm where we were in. Link sets out to find Tetra and the Ghost Ship. Meanwhile I'm on Mercay Island looking into the Temple of the Ocean King to find out anything on the Ghost Ship. Link and I meet up, but we don't realize that I'm his father and he's my son until later on through the journey.

It's a long adventure, but we have to find three spirits, three metals that can be forged into a blade to defeat Bellum, who is basically the squid version of Gannon. Link winds up defeating Bellum and that realm is saved. The Ocean King, who is a powerful being sends us back to our own world. Then everyone wakes up on the boat, but it's like none of that really happened, because its like no time passed at all. Like I said, its a long and complicated story. But we're back now and that's all that really matters." Linebeck finished with a long sigh and rubbed is face as he prepared for the onslaught of questions he was sure was going to happen.

Orca stroked his beard, "Hmm, it seems as though we have plenty of time to train Link in preparation for his fight with Gannon."

"I want Link to have as much of a normal childhood as possible. Training him at an early age might do more harm than good." explained Linebeck

James thought for a moment, "So you have the opportunity to train Link, and you don't want to take it?"

Linebeck wanted to shoot his former captain a look, but kept his head level, "The Link I knew only got a few minutes of training with a sword before he set out, and he did fine. He defeated two incarnations of pure evil."

Link's grandmother voiced her opinion, "I still think we need to tell Link when he's old enough to understand. He needs to know what he's going up against."

Linebeck understood where everyone was coming from, but he knew first hand what Link could become, but they didn't. He needed for them to understand that.

"When you tell a kid their destined to battle horrible monsters, travel through treacherous temples, and defeat the incarnations of pure evil they're either going to grow up thinking they are better than everyone or be scared out of their mind. I talked with Link. The kind of pressure that was put on him was incredible and it scared him. He was scared to fail when he was discovering what he was supposed to be doing when it happened. What do you think that's going to do to him if he knows at an early age? It's going to make things worse. Sure, he'll get some training, but it won't be until its close to when he has to stop Gannon. He's only a child, and while he'll be old enough to wear the hero's clothes, he's still going to be just a child.I'm not putting my son through all that pressure when he doesn't need it." Linebeck explained.

"What about Aryll?" asked Sturgon. "You know what will happen to her? Are you going to try to stop her from being taken by the Hemlock King? Because if you do, we might run the chance of the Hemlock King grabbing Tetra. That means when Link goes to rescue Tetra from Gannon, he would have the Triforce sooner than in the other timeline. There is a great risk either way."

Linebeck's shoulder's slumped and he sighed, "I have no idea." He rubbed his face, "I have eight years to figure it out."

* * *

Well that went worse and better than expected. But it was over, and that made Linebeck happy. The sailor made his way back to his house. Home, oh how he missed home. He opened the door and stepped in inside. Out of habit, he went to Link's room and checked on him.

The young child was sound asleep in his bed. His little stuffed bear was snugly held in the boy's arms. He shut the door and moved onto Aryll's room. The toddler was sound asleep. Goddesses, he missed this. It took him eight years to get back to this point, but boy was it worth it.


	3. Wake up Call

**I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I've been working on a novel and bet my boyfriend I could get to 15,000 words by a certain time or else have to do a Warhead challenge. I lost... and not looking forward to warheads. But now I'm gunning for 20,000 words.**

Waking up in a bed that wasn't on a boat was a really strange feeling. Just the feeling of a stable bed not rocking to the ocean waves was slightly off putting, but it would be something he'd get used to again. As he opened his eyes, he was met with another set of emerald eyes.

The sight surprised Linebeck so much that he jumped backwards, and fell off the other side of the bed. He was met to the sounds of giggles and tiny feet running around. Link ran around and plopped down beside him.

"You're silly daddy." the little boy giggled.

Linebeck shook his head and chuckled, "Yeah I guess I am."

The sailor rustles his son's hair, who immediately broke back out into a fit of giggles. Linebeck scooped up the kid and carried him into his room.

"Come on. Let's go get you dressed." Linebeck murmured.

"Aw come on. Pajama day." whined the little boy.

Linebeck shook his head as he plopped the kid down by his dresser, "Not today. We got a big day today. Maybe we can do that tomorrow."

This please the four year old as she flashed a toothy grin. Link looked over his clothes and pulled out a mismatched green shirt and red pants.

"How about we go with a green shirt and black pants?" suggested Linebeck as he looked over his son's choices.

Link nodded in agreement and dug through until he found the black pants he wanted. Once the two year old was satisfied with his choice, Linebeck left his son to get changed and to check on Aryll. When he entered her room he was met with a very excited child. She was standing up against the railings of her crib and let out a happy little screech. He smiled as he picked up his daughter.

* * *

Aryll sat in her high chair by the dinning room table. Link was standing on top op a chair helping Linebeck still the pancake mix.

"You got it." encouraged the older man.

This caused a smile to flash across Link's face. After the mixture was mixed up enough, Linebeck set Link back down on the floor as the boy hunted for the syrup. The sound of sizzling pancakes entered the air as the pancake mix was poured onto the pan. Link had found the sweet syrup and tried to set it on top of the counter. Unfortunately, he was still too small to reach the counter all that well. The sailor thanked his son and set the syrup on the counter before flipping the pancakes. They were the perfect golden brown color. Linebeck set Link back on top of the chair so he could watch.

Once the pancakes were done he cut up some pancakes for Link and Aryll. Link proceeded to make pancake soup with the syrup. Linebeck sighed and rolled his eyes. Having to deal with a kid hyped up on syrup was going to be _great_. At least he had something planned to get his son's pent up energy out.

* * *

Link burst out of the house and looked back at his father who was carrying his sister. The little boy grew impatient as his dad shut the door behind them. They made their way back down towards the beach. Linebeck rolled out a large beach towel and set Aryll down. The little girl picked up a nearby seashell and started swinging it around, squeaking in delight.

"You said we'd race." Link said as he crossed his arms.

Linebeck rustled the boy's hair. It had been a lot different back in the realm of the Ocean King. It was just him with an older Link who didn't have to compete for attention from a sibling. The juggling act was something that they'd have to figure out together.

"Yeah, we will Link. Just give me a second to get Aryll set up here. Besides, I need to put sunblock on you." he said as he dug out a small bottle of the sunblock.

Linebeck smeared and rubbed the paste on kids; he did not want to have to deal with sunburned little ones. He remembered when he and Link first stared sailing together, the poor boy really got some color on him the

"Alright. Draw a line in the sand, that will be the finish line." Linebeck instructed as he rubbed the excess sunblock on his arms.

Link rushed down the beach a little ways and drew a long line with his foot. Satisfied with his work, he made his way back towards his dad. While his son had gone and made his line, Linebeck went up the beach a ways and made the starting line. Once Link was back up where he was at the boy got ready for their little race.

"Ready?" Linebeck asked.

A toothy grin was Link's response before the boy got in a starting position.

"On your mark, get set... go!" Linebeck shouted.

Link took off as fast as lightning. Boy, was he like Ashlie. Linebeck jogged behind him, just barely letting his son win. As soon as Link crossed the finish line, he plopped down in the sand to catch his breath.

"Again." he breathed out through little gasps.

"Sure thing. Tell me when you're ready." he said as he sat down by his four year old.

The little boy jumped up a moment later and tried pulling his father up to his feet. He couldn't help but chuckle at his son's eagerness.

"Let's go!" ordered Link.

"Alright, alright." Linebeck said as he rose to his feet, "Ready?"

Link nodded as he got ready for the second race.

"On your mark... get set... go!" yelled Link.

Again, the little boy took off down the beach. Aryll giggled as they ran past her. Linebeck ran right beside Link for a majority of their race, resulting in a tie. Happy with the results, Link went back over to the beach towel and laid down on his back. His green eyes were staring up at the sky above them.

"I see a shark." Link sated as he pointed up at the sky.

Linebeck laid down by his kids and looked up at the clouds. Indeed, there was a cloud that resembled a shark.

"That one looks like a bird." Linebeck said as he pointed to another cloud.

"Mmmmm, now it looks more like a bunny." murmured Link.

"Yeah, it does look like a bun- gah." Linebeck started before Aryll grabbed at his face.

She giggled as she grabbed his nose. He freed himself from his daughters grasp and sat up, putting her in his lap. She grabbed her shell from earlier and began to look it over. Link also sat up and crossed his arms, his emerald eyes looked away from him.

"The shark looks like house now." he said as he noticed the growing jealousy of his son.

Link looked back up at the clouds, "Yep. That one next to it looks like a... like a... boat."

After a bit of cloud watching and a few more races, both kids were tuckered out and ready for a nap, and so was Linebeck. After being away for so long, he forgot how exhausting having little kids was. Too bad that despite how tired and cranky his kids were, they both refused to go down for their naps. This was going to be a long day.


	4. Good Night

**Thank you guys for being patient. I've been feeling sick the past two weeks and I've been busy with work and writing a novel. I'm sorry about the delay in the chapters. But enough dillydallying, on with the chapter.**

After a long and exhausting day, Aryll as finally out like a light. All Linebeck needed to do was but his oldest to bed, and the could finally get some sleep. How did he do this before, Linebeck wondered.

Link was already in his pajamas. He was curled up in bed waiting to be tucked in for the night. Link's green eyes began to droop as he waited.

"Can you tell me a story before bed?" He pleaded with his big green eyes.

There was no way Linebeck could say no to something as adorable as that, no matter how tired Linebeck was.

"Sure. Why not?" He said as he sat down beside his son. "What do you wanna hear about."

The little boy bit his lip and narrowed his eyebrows as he thought.

"The Hero." Link stated as he grabbed his stuffed bear.

Linebeck thought for a minute. There were so many stories about the many heroes of Hyrule. Which would be the best one to start with? Ah ha, he had just the one.

"A long time ago, long before the Great Ocean, there was a great kingdom. It was called Hyrule." Linebeck started. "Even before Hyrule there was always a great warrior that kept the land safe from darkness. Whenever the land needed him he would be reborn. Every time he was just an ordinary boy until he was needed to save the day."

"Just like me?" Link asked with big eyes.

Part of Linebeck wanted to tell the boy about his future, but that would be too much for the four year old to comprehend. Besides, if he filled his head with all the great things he was going to do before he did them, it would end badly. But Linebeck didn't want to lie to his son either, so he'd be a little ambiguous.

Linebeck smiled, "All the other heroes, were just like you." At least he was being honest, although he wasn't telling the _whole truth_. "But every once and a while, the darkness would try to take over Hyrule. For a while, all hoped seemed lost. Little did the people know, that their hero was fighting back the forces the darkness. Little by little, he helped bring the light back to Hyrule. And with the help of the Princess Zelda, they were always able to stop the darkness and Hyrule would be safe for a long time."

"Did they live happily ever after?" Link asked as his green eyes began to droop.

"Uh huh." Linebeck nodded. "Now you need to get to sleep."

Linebeck wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him into a hug. He felt a kiss on his cheek as the boy yawned.

"Good night daddy. I love you." Link said sleepily.

Goddesses Linebeck missed this. The Link he was used to was past the age of all the cute affection little kids gave. He never really got hugs from the twelve year old Link, and he didn't think he had ever initiated a hug during their long journey. Sure he had rustled Link's hair, but by then Link was at that point where affection to or from a parent was few and far between. It made Linebeck realize how much he missed out on initially, but now he had a second chance to do things right.

"I love you too Link. Good night." Linebeck replied as he returned the kiss on the cheek.

Linebeck really missed having little ones, even though they could be a handful sometimes.

* * *

The sailor had been sound asleep when the sound of Link's terrified screams pulled him awake. Linebeck was used to being woken up by his son's night terrors, but there was something unsettling about hearing his four year old cry out because of a bad dream. He rubbed his eyes and meandered his way into his son's room. Linebeck hoped that Aryll wouldn't wake up. He didn't need two crying children at this hour.

"No! It's not! Not real! It's not! It's not!" Link cried out as he opened the door.

Link was widely thrashing about. To Linebeck, this sight was something he was used to, except now it was a much smaller version of Link freaking out. The boy let out a loud sob in the time it took Linebeck to close the distance between the two of them. Chills ran down Linebeck's spine as he recognized the words his son was crying out. This was the same thing his older Link had been dreaming about.

Link was now sobbing uncontrollably, "Just let me go! Please! It hurts!"

Oh Goddesses. This was bad, really bad.

"Link." Linebeck said as he tried shaking his son awake. "You have to wake up."

"Not real! Malladus! It hurts! Help!" choked out a distressed Link.

Malladus? That name was certainly new, and that worried Linebeck on a whole new level. That meant that this was going to be something that Linebeck couldn't prepare Link for. Goddesses help them.

"Link! You need to wake up." Linebeck pleaded as his son thrashed in his grasp.

With one last cry, Link's green eyes snapped open. His tiny arms wrapped around his father like his older counterpart had done on countless occasions. Link's sobs quickly turned into hiccups. Dreams like this were a common occurrence for the older Link, but this night terror was the worst one Linebeck had ever seen. Come to think about it, this was probably the first night terror Link had ever had. As Linebeck was rubbing his son's back in an attempt to comfort him he noticed a dark spot on the bed. When Link had calmed back down, his face grew a deep scarlet when he noticed his wet sheets. Link started crying out of embarrassment instead of out of terror.

"Hey." Linebeck's words were quiet. "It's okay. It was an accident. You were having a pretty bad dream a few minutes ago."

Link pulled his arms and legs closer to his body as his eyes cast down at the ground. Poor kid. Linebeck rubbed Link's back for a moment longer before rummaging through Link's drawers for some new pajamas. After helping Link change into dry clothes, he went off to get Link new sheets for his bed. Once that was done, he picked up his son and carried him to the kitchen. Link had his head resting on his shoulder and he was still looking down at the ground. As he walked a rubbed the kid's back.

Linebeck pulled out a bottle of milk and poured a bit into a pot. He set it on the stove and turned the heat on low. As the milk warmed up, he riffled through the cabinets. Linebeck smiled as he pulled out a thing of chocolate powder. He poured some of the powder into the warm milk and stirred it around. Once the milk was warm enough, he divided it into two mugs. He handed Link the smaller mug, and the boy gratefully accepted. A small smile worked its way across Link's lips as he sipped at his hot chocolate. The two of them sipped at their hot chocolate in silence, but that was fine, they didn't need to talk.

Once their hot chocolate was gone Linebeck carried a sleepy Link back to bed. He pulled the sheets up and tucked Link into bed. Link's green eyes slipped shut as he clutched his stuffed bear. Once he was sure Link was asleep, Linebeck went back into his room for some well deserved rest.


	5. Rainy Day

Thunder boomed outside and lightening light up the sky. Rain pounded against the windows, drenching the world outside. But inside, it was toasty warm as the fireplace crackled with a roaring fire. Linebeck walked into the blanket fort his kids had put together. The fire illuminated the smiles of the kids inside of the blanket fort.

"This was a good idea dad." Link said as he stuck his head out of the blanket fort.

A huge grin was plastered across Link's face. Aryll popped her head out of the blanket fort. Link playfully leaned up against her sister and bumped into her. She flashed a smile and bumped back into her older brother. The kids had really grown up over the past five years.

"Is the hot chocolate done daddy?" Aryll asked.

Linebeck nodded as he handed his daughter a mug. She sat up and eagerly took the warm mug. Link's smile grew as he was handed his own mug. The boy scooted back to allow his father to sit down in the fort.

"Did you and mom really do this as kids?" Link asked as he took a sip of the chocolaty liquid.

"Yep." Linebeck nodded. "Whenever the weather got bad we would go over to each others house. If I was at her house her brother, your Uncle James, would tell us stories, and if she came over to my house your Uncle Kirk would be the one to tell us stories.

"What kind of stories did they tell?" Aryll asked.

Linebeck sipped his hot chocolate as he recalled the stories from his childhood. Which story would be best to tell? Linebeck had been telling Link about the various stories about the past heroes of Hyrule, but there was one that he _had_ been saving for when Link had gotten older.

"You guys know about the Hero of Time right?" Linebeck asked.

His children nodded, taking more sips of their hot chocolate.

"Well, there is more to that story than what most people know about." Linebeck started.

"When the Hero of Time, defeated Ganon, it caused a tear in time. That tear created, three distinct worlds. Their stories each have their own versions of what happened the Hero of Time when the Hero of Time fought Gannon. In one world, the Hero of Time perished at the hands of Ganon. But in our world, the hero of time was victorious. The Hero of Time was sealed in the Temple of Time for seven years until he was strong enough to defeat Ganon. After Gannon's defeat, the Princess Zelda, sent him back in time to relieve his lost years.

In another world when the Hero of Time was sent back to his childhood, he left Hyrule to seek his companion Navi. In his search, he stumbled upon the land named Termina." Linebeck was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder.

"He saved it from the wrath of Majora, an evil entity sealed away in a cursed mask. Majora's mask was worn by a Skull Kid. The spirit of Majora took over the Skull Kid and gave him great, but terrible powers. He managed to turn that Link into a deku scrubb. In three days, the Skull Kid was able to bring down the moon itself to destroy Termina." Linebeck started.

His children gasped and drew themselves closer into their father. All three of them jumped as another loud clap of thunder boomed nearby.

"B-but" Linebeck continued. "The Hero of Time used his ocarina to reverse time. He then learned the song of healing and was able to return to his normal form. The Hero of Time was able to fix everything the Skull Kid had ruined or destroyed in three days. He was able to reunite the spirits of four lost heroes. With their help he was able to defeat Majora and free Skull Kid from its powers. According to one version of the story, the Hero of Time resided in that realm until his death. But in our world, while the hero still stayed sealed in the temple to grow and defeat Ganon, he no longer existed in the timeline after his defeat of Ganon. Hyrule was then flooded and became the world you know as your home. I don't know how, but we are related to the Hero of Time. Personally, I think that that Link came back from Termina to start a family.

Link tilted his head to the side and asked, "How do you know that story? And why did you call the Hero Link?"

Oops. He really slipped up. Linebeck had been so careful not to let Link know about his future as the Wind Waker. Would now be a good time to tell him? Link was only seven and had a few more years to go before Linebeck wanted Link to start his training. A few years back, Linebeck decided that by having Link start his training at the age of ten, it would give him enough time to hone his skills, but still have a childhood.

Linebeck let out a small sigh, "I didn't want to tell you until you were older, but now might be the best time to tell you."

"What do you mean?" Link asked hesitantly.

Linebeck was quiet for a moment before he continued, "It's a long story, but I think you are old enough to handle most of it."

"Most of it." Link repeated, a hint of frustration in his voice.

This was probably going to be the hardest thing Linebeck was going to have to do, well besides give his kids _the talk,_ but that was its own can of worms.

"After your mother died, I went on one last trip out to sea." Linebeck said as he looked at his children, "As far as you know, I never went back out to sea and I started working at the tavern." He was only met with a look of confusion, but pressed on.

"But like the Hero of Time, there was another split timeline. Originally everyone on that ship was captured by the Ghost Ship. We were forced to be a part of its crew or else. Bad things started happening on the ship and we tried to escape. But it turned out the Ghost Ship sent us to another timeline.

The Ghost Ship would kidnap sailors from all three timelines and bring them to one place. It was the world where the young Link, the Hero of Time went to Termina. But I digress. We set up an escape plan, but things... didn't go as planned. I was the only one to escape. For eight years I tried to figure out a way to get back to the Ghost Ship and figure out how to get home. It was eight years later when I ran into an older version of you.

"During the eight years a lot happened in this version of the timeline." Linebeck rubbed the back of his neck, "And this is the part where I wanted to wait for you to hear, but... its probably best to get it out of the way now. Gannon returned. He started to bring darkness back across the world."

Link and Aryll looked at each other. Their confused looks now held a hint of fear in them. This was the exact thing Linebeck was trying to avoid.

"It turns out that the great sea is the land of Hyrule. It was flooded by the King to prevent Gannon from taking over when the Hero of Hyrule didn't return.

It won't be too much longer before Gannon comes back. Things started to change around your twelfth birthday. Gannon was searching for the Princess Zelda so that he could obtain her Triforce of Wisdom. He sent out the King of Helmlocks to find young girls that matched her description. One girl, named Tetra, that's about your age was caught just off the coast of the island. But after her crew fought the bird she fell into the forest. Your other counterpart went into the forest to save her. Before the girl could get back to her ship the King of Helmocks attacked and grabbed another girl." he let out a heavy breath, "It was that timeline's Aryll. So that version of Link and Tetra went out to rescue that Aryll.

A lot of things happened on that journey. Gannon brought back his monsters to try to stop the Hero of Hyrule. Aryll was rescued. Not long after rescuing Aryll, that Link and Tetra discovered that she was the recent incarnation of Zelda. Together they were able to beat Gannon. During the fight, the King of Hyrule, who had been in hiding, made sure that Hyrule would be forever flooded to prevent Gannon from ever controlling it. He then commanded that that Link and Tetra go out into the world to find a new land and rebuild Hyrule.

It was on that trip that they came across the Ghost Ship. Tetra had been captured but that Link had been able to escape it. He then found me, and we were able to stop the entity that controlled the Ghost Ship. The crew I was with that got taken by the Ghost Ship was sent back to the point in time before our capture. We came home and lived our lives like the whole mess never happened. Only this time, we have a vague idea on what's going to happen.

Originally, I wanted to wait until you were ten to tell you this Link. I was worried that telling you too soon would put too much pressure on you. But with something like this, there was never going to be a _right time_ to tell you. The Link from the alternate timeline had no training before he went out to fight Gannon. He got to live his childhood without the knowledge of the future. I wanted you to have as much of that as possible, but also have the opportunity to learn the skills you would need before you set out. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you have that fate, but you won't have to go through it alone. I'll be with you every step of the way." Linebeck fell quiet as he looked at Link.


	6. Update information

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy writing a story I want to publish. I'm at 41,000 words right now which is almost as long as WWLWBF. I may get back to writing this after the story is completed, by updates won't be a common as they once were. I have a whole series planed and that has been my major focus right now. But this will probably be updated sometime in February, so look forward to that. Maybe my book will be done and up on Amazon by then too, who knows. Whelp, sorry about the good news bad news, but I hope this was enough to tide you over. See you in February.**


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